a bit of ham to his mouth, suddenly laid it down again, then looked
first at Catherine, then at his father, several times in succession. The
good-humored girl, however, whose merry heart and light spirits always
disposed her to look at the pleasant side of everything, suddenly
glancing at the red, indignant face with which her father, in the heat
of argument, and in order to illustrate the truth of public opinion in
this instance, had made the acknowledgment--all at once, and before
the rosy blush had departed from her beautiful face, burst out into
a ringing and merry laugh, which Fergus felt to be contagious and
irresistible. On glancing again at his father, he joined her in the
mirth, and both laughed long and heartily.

"And so, father," proceeded Fergus, "you bring us a paragraph written by
yourself, to illustrate the value of public opinion; but believe me,
my dear father, and I mean it with all respect, these puffs, whether
written by one's self or others--these political puffs I say, like
literary ones, always do more harm than good to the object they are
intended to serve."

"Never you mind that, Fergus, my boy, I know how to play my game,
I think; and besides, don't you know, I expect a snug-morsel from
government for yourself, my boy; yet you never consider that--not you."

"But, my dear father, I never wish to hear a respectable man like you
acknowledge that he is playing a game at all; it reminds me of the
cringing, sycophantic, and prostitute crew of political gamblers and
manoeuvrers, by whom, not only this government, but every other, is
perpetually assailed and infested, and amongst which crew it would
grieve me to think that you should be included. As to myself, if I ever
get anything from government, it must not come to me through any of
those arrangements by which trick and management, not to say dishonesty
and conniption, are, to the shame of all parties, so frequently
rewarded. With a slight change upon Pope, I say--

"'Grant me honest place, or grant me none.'"

"Pope! What the devil do I care about his opinions? let him preach and
stick to his controversy with Father Tom--from whom he hadn't so
much to brag of--but as for you, Fergus, you are, to spake plainly, a
thorough ass. What d--d stuff you have been letting out of you! Go and
find, if you can, some purer world for yourself to live in, for, let
me tell you, you are not fit for this. There is no perfection here,
Catherine, is there